aufhebung

Aufhebung is a German philosophical term from aufheben, literally “to lift up.” In philosophy it denotes a specific kind of movement where elements are simultaneously negated and preserved in a higher unity. The term is closely associated with the way a later moment transcends and reconstitutes earlier moments rather than simply destroying them.

In German idealism, especially in the works of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Aufhebung is central to the dialectical process. A starting position (thesis) encounters its opposition (antithesis); through Aufhebung the two are overcome and synthesized into a higher form. Crucially, the synthesis both negates the previous stage and preserves its positive content, so that the development proceeds as a unity that includes its predecessors within a qualitatively new moment. Because of this double sense, Aufhebung is often translated as “sublation,” though that English rendering may obscure the ongoing preservation implied by the term.

Historically, the word predates Hegel and appears in Kantian and other German philosophical contexts with the sense of suspending or canceling while preserving. In later philosophy, the notion of Aufhebung was adapted by thinkers influenced by Hegel, including Karl Marx, who used dialectical concepts to analyze social and historical change. The term remains a point of debate among interpreters, particularly regarding how broadly it should be applied to characterize negation, preservation, and transformation within a system.